Voice and sound synthesizing devices have been long used in toys. Such toys are capable of providing sounds responsive to positions in, for example, a doll or a ball. These toys, however, are of little or no educational value to the user.
One such toy, for example, comprises a doll as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,245, issued Mar. 9, 1982, to Stowell et al. The doll as disclosed by Stowell et al. produces a variety of sounds responsive to positioning of the doll by a child. The doll is able to make a specific number of sounds, such as laughter and crying, but is not capable of providing educational assistance to an infant or child.
Another sound-producing device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,260 issued, May 5, 1987, to Rumsey. The Rumsey patent discloses a ball that is capable of producing different notes responsive to positioning of the ball. A person using the ball is capable of producing a musical tune by positioning the ball in various locations to sequence the appropriate notes. The Rumsey device provides no direct instruction to the user and does not serve as a learning aid.
Thus, there is a need for a combined toy and learning aid which is capable of educating infants through adults in various visual displays matched with their sound and/or an oral identification in a position-sensitive educational format.